Steve Jobs Helps Out An Old Friend In Need (AAPL, MSFT)

Flashback to
1997. Steve Jobs has recently returned to Apple (AAPL), which is
reeling. Desperate for a lifeline, he brokers a deal with
Microsoft: Bill Gates gives him $150 million in Microsoft
(MSFT) cash, via a stock sale. In return, Steve has to undergo an
embarassing Macworld presentation in which Bill Gates beams in
via satellite, his image looming over his rival.

Cut to today: Steve announces that the red-hot iPhone will make
its long-awaited push in corporate markets... via a
licensing deal with MSFT's Exchange. This isn't quite
symmetrical, because the deal won't move Microsoft's needle
financially. But it's a big psychic boost: The maker of the
world's coolest phone had
multiple options in front of it -- and it went with its dowdy
old friend. And because he's a gracious guy, he doesn't even
require Bill, or anyone else from Microsoft, to share the stage
when he graced them with his gift.